JP3648161B2 - Reduction of fluid passage noise - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid flow passage defined by a surface which surrounds the passage is provided with a plurality of projections, such as fibrils or brush like bristles, on the surface extending transversely to the flow passage. The projections serve to counteract or dampen the generation of high frequency sound energy or noise. The flow passage may be part of a medical or dental aspirator or industrial vacuum intake system or high pressure steam or gas exhaust system.

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method or apparatus for attenuating or suppressing high frequency acoustic wave energy or noise from a fluid flowing through a passage, such as a fluid drawn into a conduit by suction or out of the conduit by pressure.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The energy of the high frequency sound waves emitted by the dental aspirator is a constant source of irritation not only for the patient but also for the dentist who is in contact with the patient for a long time, resulting in hearing loss, stress and fatigue.
[0003]
A dental aspirator includes a suction tube having an open end that is inserted into the patient's oral cavity to remove water, saliva and solids. High frequency acoustic wave energy or noise is emitted by air or a mixture of air and liquid sucked into the suction orifice and fed into the suction tube of the aspirator.
[0004]
Similar to the laser fume extraction system, this problem also arises in the area of dentistry and medical work such as a surgical vacuum system used to remove air, liquids and blood during surgery.
[0005]
A further problem apart from the generated noise is the “suck back” that occurs when the suction orifice is blocked by living tissue inside or around the surgical site. This has been a concern in the medical and dental industries as it can lead to cross-infection of bacteria and viruses.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In addition to the above examples relating to the medical field, such noise reduction is important in other areas, such as industrial applications in vacuum suction or exhaust systems, as well as high frequency sonic energy associated with high pressure steam exhaust systems and jet engines.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, it is provided with a tube constituting a fluid passage having a front end portion constituting a suction orifice and a rear end portion connected to a suction source, and the tube has a plurality of protrusions at least in the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage. And the protrusion is provided so as to extend from the inner peripheral surface of the tube to the outer peripheral surface of the distal end portion of the tube beyond the suction orifice. An aspirator or vacuum suction tube is provided.
[0008]
The protrusion may be provided over substantially the entire circumference of the inner peripheral surface of the passage.
[0009]
The passage may have a substantially circular cross section, and the protrusions may be provided substantially radially with respect to the cross section.
[0010]
The protrusion may be made of a flexible material. These may be any suitable size or shape. These can be in the form of fine filaments, fibrils such as fibers, or brushes such as bristles, hair, or fluid passages, or others that effectively increase the surface area of its inlet or outlet orifices. It may be in the form of any large or small protrusion or bump. Such an increase in surface area changes the turbulence and sudden vibrations of the medium in the suction or discharge system that results in intense direct sound peaks. This attenuates the sound.
[0011]
The present invention is applied to an aspirator or a surgical vacuum system using a fluid passage having a protrusion as described above, such as used in the medical / dental field.
[0012]
The present invention is further applied to an industrial vacuum suction system using a fluid passage having a protrusion as described above, as well as an industrial high-pressure steam or air discharge system.
[0013]
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for attenuating or suppressing noise in a fluid passage having a suction orifice and an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface, from the inner peripheral surface to the outer peripheral surface beyond the suction orifice. Until now, there is provided a method characterized by providing a plurality of protrusions extending at least partially transverse to the fluid passage.
[0019]
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Here, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum tube according to an embodiment of the present invention suitable for use as a dental or medical aspirator with a sound attenuating protrusion, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum tube of FIG. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are side views and end views of the vacuum tube of FIG. 1 in which the sound attenuating protrusion is omitted for convenience of illustration, and FIG. 4 is suitable for industrial application. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an exhaust or steam exhaust pipe according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an end view of the tube of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are examples of protrusions that reduce noise in the flow path. FIG.
[0021]
1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a dental or medical vacuum tube or suction device. The tube 10 has a distal end 10.1 that serves as a suction orifice and a rear end 10.2 that is connected to a suction source such as a vacuum device in use.
[0022]
The tube 10 can be discarded, is resistant to living tissue, and is made of a non-allergenic plastic material. In this embodiment, the outer diameter of the tube is 11 mm to fit a common dental vacuum adapter. The length is 15cm for convenience. As shown in the figure, the rear end portion 10.2 is cut at a right angle, while the front end portion 10.1 is cut with an inclination of 45 ° to form a suction edge 10.3.
[0023]
The suction edge 10.3 is clearly shown in FIG. 3A, which shows the tip 10.1 of the tube 10, but straight hair (described later) is omitted for clarity.
[0024]
The tip portion 10.1 is provided with a thin plastic brush such as a protrusion or a straight hair 14. The straight hair body 14 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tube 10 from about 1.5 cm from the end of the tube, and is provided on the inner peripheral surface from about 5 cm from the end of the tube 10. The straight hair also extends from the end face 10.4 which forms the surface of the suction orifice 10.5 as shown at 14.1.
[0025]
The suction orifice 10.5 and the end face 10.4 that forms the surface of the orifice 10.5 are more clearly shown in FIG. 3B, which shows the distal end face of the tube 10, but again the straight hair 14 is shown for clarity. It is omitted.
[0026]
When using a dental aspirator, a suction source is connected to the tube 10 and inserted into the patient's mouth. When air, water, saliva and other dental debris flows into the orifice 10.5 of the tip 10.1 and passes through the passage 10.6 constituted by the tube 10, the orifice or sharp edge. The high-frequency sound due to the turbulent flow of the shear layer of the gas or the mixed fluid of gas and liquid when crossing the gas at high speed is attenuated by the flexible straight hair body 14 that increases the area of the region through which the mixed fluid of gas and liquid flows. The
[0027]
The soft pliable protrusions or straight hairs 14 serve to increase the surface area sufficiently to attenuate noise without impeding the flow of fluid and solids through the passage 10.6.
[0028]
The protrusion 14 at the suction orifice 10.5 stays at the suction edge 10.3 above the surgical site to avoid or suppress the contact of the suction orifice 10.5 with human tissue, thereby causing the trauma edge 10.3 to be non-traumatic. It is firm enough to keep it atraumatic.
[0029]
A further advantage is that the protrusions provide an effective brush effect, such as for removing debris stuck to a dry mucous member. The brush effect helps remove solid debris such as bone debris and excess drug in the oral cavity.
[0030]
4 and 5, reference numeral 20 represents a high-pressure gas or vapor discharge pipe.
[0031]
The pipe 20 includes a brush-like protrusion or straight hair 22 extending in the inner diameter direction. As with the tube 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the protrusion 22 increases the surface area to attenuate noise emitted by steam or gas without interfering with the flow of the passage to the extent that the exhaust system can function. Useful. The length of the pipe 20 may be adjusted according to the needs depending on the type of application.
[0032]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 50 indicates an example of the protrusion. As shown in the figure, the protrusion 50 is gradually narrowed from the base portion 50.1 toward the tip portion 50.2. This is very useful when used in an aspirator. The base 50.2 of the protrusion 50 is rigid enough to prevent or prevent the suction orifice from being completely blocked by living tissue inside or around the surgical site. This therefore suppresses the “suction return” phenomenon that occurs when a suction orifice in a gas or liquid vacuum line is blocked.
[0033]
Apart from the tapered shape of the protrusion 50 of FIG. 5, the protrusion may have a uniform rod-like diameter as shown at 60 in FIG. 7 to further increase the surface area and reduce the sharp tip, As shown by 70, it may be thick.
[0034]
The protrusion may further be any suitable shape or cross section, such as circular, oval, square, square or triangular.
[0035]
While only preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, the invention is not limited thereby and various modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum tube according to an embodiment of the present invention suitable for use as a dental or medical aspirator with a sound attenuating protrusion. FIG. 2 is a representation of the tip of the vacuum tube of FIG. 3A and 3B are side views and end views of the vacuum tube of FIG. 1 in which the sound attenuating protrusion is omitted for convenience of illustration, respectively. FIG. 4 is another view of the present invention suitable for industrial application. FIG. 5 is an end view of the tube of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a side view of an example of a protrusion that reduces noise in the flow path. FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of an example of a protrusion that reduces noise in a flow path.

Claims (8)

A tube constituting a fluid passage having a tip portion constituting a suction orifice and a rear end portion connected to a suction source;
The tube has an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface provided with a plurality of protrusions at least over the longitudinal direction of the fluid passage,
The suction device or vacuum suction tube, wherein the protrusion is provided from the inner peripheral surface of the tube to the outer peripheral surface of the distal end portion of the tube beyond the suction orifice. 2. The suction device or vacuum suction tube according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is provided over substantially the entire circumference of the inner peripheral surface of the passage. 2. The suction device or vacuum suction tube according to claim 1, wherein the passage has a substantially circular cross section, and the protrusions are provided substantially radially with respect to the cross section. The passage according to claim 3, wherein the protrusion is made of a flexible material. 2. The suction device or vacuum suction tube according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is tapered in the radial direction. 2. The suction device or vacuum suction tube according to claim 1, wherein the tube is provided with a flexible protrusion extending forward in the longitudinal direction of the suction orifice. A method for attenuating or suppressing noise in a fluid passage having a suction orifice and an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface,
A method comprising: providing a plurality of protrusions extending at least partially laterally with respect to the fluid passage from the inner peripheral surface to the outer peripheral surface beyond the suction orifice. The method of claim 7, wherein the protrusion is flexible.

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